Pistorius arrives in court

He came in alone through the court room’s main entrance, walked quickly down the left side, past the bench where his defence and the State sit, casting a glance at prosecutor Andrea Johnson, who did not look up from her files.

He made his way past the mock up toilet cubicle set up in the courtroom, which includes the door through which he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and to his place in the dock.

He stood talking with two of his cousins, who escort him into and out of court each day.

Steenkamp’s mother June was back in court, sitting next to three members of the ANC Women’s League.

Pistorius looked in her direction briefly, then dropped his head and covered his eyes with his hand. They did not make eye contact. Steenkamp kept looking at him, where he sat in front of her and on the opposite side of the room.

Pistorius’s sister Aimee walked in, put her bag down, looked towards Steenkamp and said “hi”.

Steenkamp was looking down at the time and did not see her, but the ANCWL members acknowledged her greeting.

A few minutes later Pistorius’s uncle sat down next to June Steenkamp and they spoke briefly.

Barry Roux, for Pistorius, was expected to continue his cross-examination of the police officer who photographed the scene of the crime, Warrant Officer Barend van Staden.

Van Staden is attached to the photography section of the Local Criminal Record Centre. He had been with the centre for 12 years, and in the police for 21.

In addition to the murder of Steenkamp in the early hours of February 14 last year, Pistorius is charged with contraventions of the Firearms Control Act. He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.

On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.

– Sapa